


Time and Time Again

by Oliver__Niko



Series: Sylvix Week 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Friends, Drabble, Friendship, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26618452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliver__Niko/pseuds/Oliver__Niko
Summary: As the years go by, Felix understands more about why Sylvain has his bruises, and he wants to do all he can to help.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Sylvain Jose Gautier, Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: Sylvix Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1936372
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28
Collections: Sylvix Week 2020 Fic Collection





	Time and Time Again

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my first written piece for this week! Just a drabble to start with. All my other writing will be posted for the last several days, so for now, I hope you enjoy this.

It’s happened again.

The first time … Well, Felix cannot exactly remember the specific day. Images simply flicker in his mind. He can remember when he was younger, and here and there, Sylvain might have had a bruise or two. Sylvain’s smiles, always such a shining light for Felix, reassured him enough alongside a bright voice.

“ _My big brother is rough when he plays with me, sometimes.”_

Felix—young, naive, and a boy who soon began to have his own bumps and bruises when training with his brother—thought nothing of this. Perhaps this is actually how it had been at first. It’s difficult to say, for even these days, Felix doesn’t fully understand.

But it continues on throughout the years. And, alongside those seemingly harmless bruises, once came incidents that would cause Felix to burst into tears and cling onto Sylvain so tightly, the latter could hardly move.

The first time this happened was a day when Sylvain was left in the freezing mountains.

“ _Don’t worry, my big brother was just playing a game, I think. Got too out of hand.”_

Even whilst being naive, Felix has still been intelligent enough to tie things together. How sometimes there are periods where those bruises aren’t inflicted on Sylvain’s skin. But as soon as something comes up, like Sylvain’s Crest is mentioned at a family dinner or Sylvain himself gets stronger, those injuries appear again.

And sometimes, it leads to something as harsh as that day in the mountains.

“ _It’s fine, it’s fine.”_ A day in the past is on Felix’s mind: when Sylvain had to be rescued from a well. _“I probably did something to annoy Miklan.”_

No matter the words Sylvain would say back then, and what he says to Felix now, the latter's tears never stop until he knows Sylvain is okay. And through those tears, his breaking innocence, his understanding has increased over time.

“ _I know he hurts you. It’s because of your Crest, right?”_

One day, _“No, that’s not …”_

And the next, _“I don’t understand. It’s not even my fault.”_ Tears as well, not just from Felix.

He has nothing he can do. Every time he asks Sylvain to tell someone, for the pair to speak to Felix’s father, he gives a stern no. Sylvain especially becomes stern, sometimes even desperate, when Felix says that he is going to stand up to Miklan on Sylvain’s behalf.

With so little options to choose from, what can such a young boy do for his friend? All he has done is cry, hold Sylvain close, and yet the latter still thanks Felix, almost as though that’s enough. But in Felix’s eyes, it’s not.

Not for someone like Sylvain, the sun in Felix’s life.

“What are you doing?” he asks Felix. His pale, little hands hover over the bruise on Sylvain’s arm, Felix’s face scrunching in concentration.

“Shh.” Felix blinks, sending fresh tears trickling down his face, although he’s determined to focus no matter what. Come on, come on … He hasn’t spent nights with his bed covers over his head, lighting a book with a candle, only for it to not even work.

But he’s only a ten-year-old boy with many years needed to grow stronger, especially when it comes to magic. All he manages is a little glow beneath his hands.

Sylvain is staring at Felix’s face. “Felix—”

“I was hoping it’d work!” Felix’s voice brims with frustration, although his hands are still gentle as he begins to spread some potion over Sylvain’s arm, exactly how he usually does. “Dad can do it!”

“You’ve been learning Faith magic for me?”

“Trying to.” Felix sniffles. “But it’s not working, and I— _what?”_ He pouts when Sylvain begins to laugh. “I know I’m bad at it, okay? You don’t need to …”

His words drift off when he notices how tears have mingled with that laughter.

“I’m not laughing at you,” says Sylvain. “It’s … because I’m happy, I think. That you would go to lengths like that for me. How have you even been learning it?”

“I’ve been borrowing some of dad’s books. He doesn’t know.”

“So … stealing them, not borrowing them?”

“I was going to put them back!”

“I know, I know. I’m teasing.” The moment Felix is done tending to the bruise, he’s pulled into a hug by Sylvain. “I’m grateful, Felix, even if you haven’t gotten the hang of it yet. And don’t worry. I swear I’m fine.”

Felix shakes his head against Sylvain’s shoulder. “How can you be fine when Miklan is how he is?”

“Because I have others who love me. Dimitri, Ingrid, Rodrigue … you. Give it some years too, and we’ll be at Garreg Mach together. I know I’ll be much happier there.”

Felix hums. “Yeah. I’ll be sure of it. And I’ll kick the butts of anyone who tries to make you sad.”

“If you can reach.”

Sylvain laughs again when Felix gives him a playful shove. In the blink of an eye, the two are play-wrestling into the snow, Felix soon taken over by a fit of giggles from the hands attacking his sides.

Maybe, even if things don’t always go as planned, they’ll be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'm disappointed I couldn't have made this into a full oneshot, and perhaps I will do so in the future, but time wasn't fully on my side with me needing to finish my final painting for the week.
> 
> Speaking of, if you'd also like to see my art for this week, you can find me on Twitter @nikobynight.


End file.
